Notable deaths in 2006

AFP/Getty Images

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Dec. 29 Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator who terrorized a nation for nearly a quarter-century until he was deposed and captured by U.S. troops, was hanged on Dec. 29 for ordering the murders of 148 of his countrymen 24 years ago.

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Dec. 29 Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator who terrorized a nation for nearly a quarter-century until he was deposed and captured by U.S. troops, was hanged on Dec. 29 for ordering the murders of 148 of his countrymen 24 years ago. (AFP/Getty Images)

Former President Gerald R. Ford, Dec. 26 Former President Gerald R. Ford, who declared "Our long national nightmare is over" as he replaced Richard Nixon but may have doomed his own chances of election by pardoning his disgraced predecessor, died at his desert home on Dec. 26. He was 93. A Michigan Republican elected to Congress 13 times before becoming the first appointed vice president in 1973 after Spiro Agnew left amid scandal, Ford was Nixon's hand-picked successor, a man of much political experience who had never run on a national ticket. He was as open and straightforward as Nixon was tightly controlled and conspiratorial.

Former President Gerald R. Ford, Dec. 26 Former President Gerald R. Ford, who declared "Our long national nightmare is over" as he replaced Richard Nixon but may have doomed his own chances of election by pardoning his disgraced predecessor, died at his desert home on Dec. 26. He was 93. A Michigan Republican elected to Congress 13 times before becoming the first appointed vice president in 1973 after Spiro Agnew left amid scandal, Ford was Nixon's hand-picked successor, a man of much political experience who had never run on a national ticket. He was as open and straightforward as Nixon was tightly controlled and conspiratorial.